


Stay Awake

by IckleMissMayhem (DryCereal)



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/M, Here be angst, I'm Sorry, Link's POV, Memory #17, Please Don't Hate Me, Zelda's Awakening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-17 04:50:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16509677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DryCereal/pseuds/IckleMissMayhem
Summary: He’ll get up in a moment, he tells himself. He just needs to rest. Then they can go.





	Stay Awake

Link loses his balance as Zelda pushes past him, and as the sudden flash of light erupts around them he closes his eyes and, disorientated and so, so tired, he falls to the ground.  
  
He’ll get up in a moment, he tells himself. He just needs to rest. Then they can go.

They’re so close to the safety he hopes, _prays_ the Sheikah will be able to provide, even for just a little while. They’ll be able to regroup, come up with a new plan, maybe find out how to take back control of the Divine Beasts and the Guardians, because Hylia knows they can’t fight them and the Calamity both.  
  
Guardians - he can hear them thudding and clanking in the rain around them, they’re not safe here, he realises as the warmth and the glow from the light fades.

It’s cold again, the rain and the ground beneath him, and he can’t quite hear what Zelda is murmuring to herself - he needs to get up, they need to slink away, around the hills, get to the village around the hills-  
  
He’s just _so_ tired though.

He hears Zelda exclaim, hear her call out to him - she sounds frightened, and it’s this more than anything that makes him tighten his hold on the grip of his sword, even as he steels himself to rise, preparing to have to try and fight once more, as he feels Zelda drop to her knees beside him and roll him over, gathering him into her arms, much as he had to her the night before.

She’s crying again, he realises, begging him to get up, as he forces his eyes open, goes to speak to her, to reassure her that he’s there, that he’s going to get up now, they’ll be safe soon, that it isn’t her fault-  
  
None of it is.

He coughs as he turns his head to face her, and the dull ache in his chest where he’d taken a direct hit earlier splits, it feels like his entire chest splits open as sudden white-hot pain lances through him and he sags against Zelda, breathless, but suddenly angry with himself.

It had been a stupid mistake, taking his eyes off the mechanical beast before it had stilled entirely; he knew better than that, but they had been surrounded by so many, with more approaching from the horizon, and it had just been a quick glance to check on Zelda, hiding as best she could between the remains of the first two he had destroyed, when it lashed out and knocked him flying, landing face-first in the mud, the impact causing his grip to slacken, the sword sliding just out of his reach. She’d come running then too, calling out his name in a panic, but he’d been up, on his feet before she reached him, sword back in his hand where it belonged, and had taken out the nearest approaching Guardian before grabbing her hand and leading her back behind the relative safety of its remains.  
  
He’d taken down another three of the monstrous machines before sinking to his knees, exhausted, reaching into the padded pouch where he stores his supply of elixirs and potions to find it empty. Suddenly, she was at his shoulder, pressing the one bottle remaining to them into his hands. He’d refused to take it when he realised it was a stealth potion, wanting her to take it, to stay hidden from harm, be able to sneak away.  
  
He’d find her later. When it was safe.  
  
Clearly her thoughts are running along the same lines, because she’d started telling him to run, to leave her and flee – as if he ever would.  
  
He’d sworn to give his life for her, and he would do so willingly. Not because he’d sworn an oath, not just because she held the power to seal away the Calamity, but because-

Because of those other things, those things he’d whispered to her the night before, when nothing else had succeeded in calming her tears. Breathy promises whispered into her hair as she curled into his chest, head on his shoulder, tears soaking into his tunic along with the falling rain, even sheltered as they were by the leaves of the tree he’d hauled them both into to hide in for an all-to-brief rest. For her, at least.

He hopes she got the same comfort from him as he’s now getting from her, just being close to her, feeling her, warm and alive and here, telling him over and over through her tears he’s going to be okay, he’ll be fine, and he is, she doesn’t need to cry, not ever, he’s sure they’ll both be okay soon-

He just needs an elixir. Something to get him back on his feet so he can be the knight she needs, the one she deserves-

He wonders where Mipha is; she could heal him in seconds. Get him fit enough to fight their way to safety; to flee and defend the Princess, at least; why isn’t she helping him?! - but he suddenly remembers the other Champions, posted with their Divine Beasts - now commanded by Ganon.

He hopes their friends managed to escape. Unharmed, or at least alive.

They're not here now though. They’re on their own, he has to get up, get them away from here, he has to protect Zelda, he has to keep her safe-

She raises her head from his chest suddenly. and when she speaks, she sounds relieved, happy even. They’re here, she tells him excitedly, the Sheikah are here, they’ve made it, they’re safe now.  
  
That’s not true, he thinks, but he won’t try and tell her otherwise now, not when she’s this relieved. It can wait. There’s other voices joining hers now, above him, two, he thinks, but it’s what she’s saying that he focuses on, horror quickly flooding through him on the back of the wave of relief.  
  
She’s sending him away? She can’t do that, he’s got to keep close, to keep her safe! He’ll do better next time, he swears desperately, he won’t fail again, just-

Won’t someone give him a Hylia-damned elixir?!

 _Please_.

He’s so tired, but if someone will just help him, he can stay by her side, he can protect her from whatever’s coming at them, he can explain, promise, retake his oath, _anything…_  
  
Don’t send him away. Don’t be angry, don’t let today erase everything they’ve been through til now- He’ll do better, get stronger, he just needs a little rest, a little healing. That’s all.  
  
They aren’t hearing him though, why can’t they hear him?!  
  
She’s loosening her hold on him now, he’s so cold suddenly as someone else lifts him up, their arms under his shoulders and his knees, this is wrong, he doesn’t want to go with them, he needs to stay, she needs to _listen_ -  
  
She’s leaning over him though, she’s close, he can tell, even if his eyes are closed still, she’s whispering to him, words only for him, and as she finishes and pulls away, he relaxes, finally, and drifts away as everything fades.  
  
“I will be waiting for you. I will see you again. Go now and rest, come back to me. My Knight, my Champion, my… Link”  
  
“I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> This game is breaking me in every conceivable way, so I had to try and write something to work it out of my system. Hopefully I've done it justice. Hopefully you don't hate me for it. I promise the next one will be happier.


End file.
